Tree holder



TREE HOLDER Filed Jan. 9, 1946 INVENTOR WALTER QDOEBLme,

ATTORNEY! Patented Oct. 25, 1949 UNITED P TENT O FFICE I The present .invention relatesv to tree supports and. more particularlyto. Christmasv tree holders.

The. design and manufacture of Christmas ,tree holderspresentdifilcult problems onaccount of conditions under which they are used and the absolute necessity for beingmade inexpensively butwith considerable strength. The holders are employed alike for light. and..heavy trees, some of which. are misshapen and are. therefore topheavy. They, are sometimes. applied. on the tree by the seller butmore often by. the householder whov may .have onlycrudeworking tools at hand .so that the greatest facility for. applying the holder must be. suppliedrbythe. manufacturer ,"and sizes of trees and yetfrequire the minimum metal which can be worked inexpensively to Another object is to provide a Christmas tree holder which can be: readily taken apart and shipped in a knockeddown condition so that large numbers of holders can be contained in a relatively small package for delivery to retailers.

Still another objectis ,to. provide a tree holder formed of a plurality of parts which are detachably secured together and which parts are substantial duplicates of one another so that any one part can be readily replaced by the manufacturer or retailer.

Another object is to provide a holder of the character describedin which the parts can be made by inexpensive pressing and stamping operations, out of sheet metal which is eventually bent to proper shape.

The invention will be better understood when reference is made to the following description and the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 represents an elevational view of improved holder.

Figure 2 is a plan view while Figure 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken through one of the legs of the holder.

As shown in Figure 2, the base of the holder is comprised of four equidistantly spaced arms I formed of sheet metal and provided preferably with longitudinally extending beads 2 down the 2 a middle of each strip. The strips are of considerable length in order to give stability to theholder and are provided for the greater part of the length. with a bend ,ofrelatively .small curva- 5 ture, butat the position indicated .at .3,.- the curvature is relatively sharp to cause-the endpor- ;tions 4 to extend substantially vertical. :The upper bead-2 running, along each strip ispositioned. preferably at the sharp bend 3 in. order to provide additional strength. at this point.

At approximately one-third the distance-down from the top edge of each armor leg I, there is a slot 5 extendin transversely ofthe. strip, .this slot being'adapted loosely to receive a tab 6 which terminates the angularly extending arms 1 of a fiat plate 8. i This plate may be provided with scalloped edges asindicated at. 9' (Figure 2) .so as to give. an ornamental effect as well as to provide a relatively large area to the bottom surface." If desired, a pair of short outwardly extending beads 8' can be provided 'on the arm I running longitudinally of the arm and positioned at each end of the slot 5 so as to provide reenforcement to this narrow width of metal.

It is apparent that the arms I of the extended base member and also the arms I of the. bottom plate 8 can readily be produced by a stamping and bending operation. The reenforcingbeads 2 formed on the arms I may also be provided at the time that the arms are being bent to shape.

The upper end portions 4 of the arms I are constrained to positions conforming, generally .to a rectangle by means of a rectangular frame memberv l I. This frame member .is made preferably of sheet metal stamped to shape and has a flat configuration. There are a number of cutaway portions |2 along the inner edge of the member which loosely receive the portions 4 of the arms I. The latter are provided with an offset hook portion i3 which is adapted to be extended over and to clamp around the outer edge This hook member l3 can obviously be formed at practically the same of the frame member ll.

time that the arms I are being bent to shape.

8 by the well-known cutting and bending opera tion.

Due to the manner in which the various part are fitted into one another and the extended per tions at which the various detachable joints be wardly and inwardly in a vertical direction to define an enclosure, a base for receiving the lower surface of a trunk of a tree, said base having auxiliary arms extending angularly upward, slot means in said main arms for detachably receiving said auxiliary arms, a frame surrounding the upper portions of said main arms, said main arms having hook-like portions for detachably engag- ,ing said frame whereby saidmain arms are held in position transversely, and means for adjustably clamping the upper portions of said main very little shipping space and can readily be.

sold disassembled and put into operative use by a householder without requiring any tools whatsoever. In other words, the holder parts are complete within themselves.

It is also apparent that there is sufiicient springiness or yielding effect to the lower portions of the arms I as to permit all of these arms to evenly contact with a foundation surface and the weight of the tree IE will assure that the bottom plate 8 will also contact the same surface. It is further evident that the weight of the tree acting in part at the thumb screws 14 serve to press the end portions 4 of the arms downwardly and thus to'assure a downward pressure on the arms at the tabs 6. The arms will then rest quite firmly on the shoulders formed by the tabs. Inasmuch as the holder parts with the exception of the thumb screws I4 are made entirely out of sheet metal the weight of the assembled holder is relatively small. However, great stability is accorded thetree by reason of the considerable length of the arms which would make it almost impossible to overturn even in the case of a top-heavy tree.

It is further apparent that due to the separate entity between the base member 8 and the arms I before assembly these separate parts can be readily painted in different colors, usually red I and green to give a pleasing effect to the holder when in place.

It will be understood that various modifications and arrangements in structure could be made without departing from the spirit of my invention and, accordingly, I desire to comprehend such modifications and substitutions of equivalents as may be considered to come within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new'and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. A tree holder comprising a plurality of main arms equidistantly spaced from one another and of curvilinear shape, said arms being bent uparms about said trunk whereby said main arms are urged downwardly on a foundation surface to prevent disengagement of said auxiliary arms fromsaid main arms.

2. A' tree holder comprising a plurality of main arms spaced from one another and of curvilinear shape to form a secondary base, said arms being bent upwardly and inwardly in a vertical direction to define an enclosure, a primary base for receiving the lower surface of a trunk of a tree, said primary base having auxiliary arms extending angularly upward and terminating in tabs, slot means in said main arms for detachably receiving said tabs, a frame having cutaway portions that receive the upper portion of said main arms, said main arms having hook-like portions for detachably engaging said frame whereby said frame surrounds the upper portion of the main arms to hold them in position transversely and means for adjustably clamping the upper portions of said main arms about said trunk whereby said main arms are urged downwardly on a foundation surface to prevent disengagement of said tabs from said main arms.

WALTER C. DOEBLING.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the 

